Press Release – ND Reunion Show at Lucky Dog – 10-16-2015

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:

Plymouth Rock Band to Perform Reunion Show at Lucky Dog to Benefit JDRF

PLYMOUTH, NH (October 5, 2015) – Veteran Plymouth rock band, Nostalgic Distortion, are pleased to present their 21st Anniversary Reunion Show at the Lucky Dog Tavern and Grill on Friday, October 16th. Live music at the Lucky Dog starts at 10:00pm and 50% of the cover charge proceeds will be donated to JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) on behalf of Andy’s Army JDRF One Walk team.

This will be the 3rd year in a row that Nostalgic Distortion (ND) has teamed up with Andy’s Army to do a reunion / benefit show for JDRF. The first such show was in October of 2013, when ND reconvened after a 9 year hiatus for the event which marked the 19th anniversary of the band’s formation in October of 1994. After that show, ND and Andy’s Army decided to try to make it an annual event – and this year’s show will be the 3rd consecutive annual reunion / benefit show. ND founder/bassist/vocalist Ryan Byrne says of the event, “The cover charge is only $5 ($3 with college ID). Our goal is to get about 100 people to come rock out with us for a couple of hours and collect about $500 at the door. That way we can give at least $250 to Andy’s Army/JDRF after the split. So far the plan has worked out pretty well. The first year we gave $275 to JDRF, and last year we gave $300. Maybe we can give even more this year! It’s not a ton of money in the grand scheme of things, but every little bit helps – and we get a chance to get the band back together at least once a year for a good cause!”. Byrne also pointed out that the band doesn’t just pocket their half of the door split. They buy about $200 of targeted Facebook ads in the weeks leading up to the show to get the word out to their friends and fans throughout the state, and use their half of the door split to pay themselves back for the advertising and other incidental expenses. Byrne adds, “College students that used to watch our shows 12 – 20 years ago are now spread throughout New England and the rest of the country. But thanks to targeted advertising on Facebook, we are able to alert those fans that still live within a reasonable driving distance of Plymouth. We had lots of people drive in from over an hour away to be here for these shows the last couple of years – from Berlin to Exeter and many places in between”.

About Nostalgic Distortion – and their history with the Lucky Dog Tavern

Formed on the campus of Plymouth State in October of 1994, Nostalgic Distortion (ND) was active on and off from the mid 1990’s to the mid 2000’s, occupying similar sonic territory as the power pop / punk / rock’n’roll bands that were popular at the time – bands such as Green Day, Blink-182, and Good Charlotte. Performing both originals and cover tunes, ND played shows throughout New Hampshire – from top to bottom – in towns such as Berlin, Littleton, Laconia, Concord, Manchester, Hampton Beach, and Portsmouth – as well as a few stints in the neighboring states of Maine, Vermont, and Massachusetts. But the Lucky Dog Tavern and Grill in Plymouth was ND’s hometown stomping grounds. The band held all of their special shows, such as CD-release parties, at the Lucky Dog. If they weren’t there playing an official ND gig, they were participating in open mics, or coming to watch myriad other bands from the Portsmouth/seacoast scene that would come up to play the Lucky Dog – bands such as Thanks To Gravity, Fly Spinach Fly, Groovechild, and Heavens To Murgatroid. “When we were in college in the nineties, there were live rock bands two to three nights a week at the Lucky Dog. Now with electronic dance music being so popular, there are DJs two or three nights a week. In fact, we are the only live band on the schedule for the month of October.”, says Byrne. “Our history with the Lucky Dog played a big part in our choosing that venue for the reunion shows these last few years – and we appreciate the Lucky Dog bumping their normal activities for that night to let an old school rock band like us come out and rock the stage again for old time’s sake – and all for a good cause!”, Byrne exclaims.

Though there were a few band member changes during ND’s decade-long tenure as a live performance entity, the reunion line-up of ND remains the same as the band’s final line-up during it’s last couple of years of activity – bassist/vocalist Ryan Byrne, guitarist/vocalist Tim Hazelton, and drummer Marc Sheehan. Hesitant to use the term “broke up”, Byrne said that ND went on an indefinite hiatus in October 2004 when he moved to Nashville, TN to pursue other musical opportunities, and he has made it a priority to keep ND’s music/memory alive over the last 9 years by maintaining an active website and social media presence where people can listen to music, watch videos, and view pictures of the band. As a matter of fact, during this 21st anniversary month of October, the band is giving away free downloads of a dozen of their classic original tunes on their website, www.NostalgicDistortion.com.

Byrne still lives in Tennessee with his wife and has been the bassist for Nashville country artist/singer-songwriter, Stephen Cochran, for the last 9 years. He has also recently expanded and rebranded his vanity recording label (251 Records) into a wider-ranging digital marketing agency, known as 251 Media, which specializes in web design and social media marketing for other musical artists and small businesses. Hazelton lives in Holderness, NH with his wife and children. He is a public school music teacher in Franklin and continues to perform music with the Tim and Dave Show. Sheehan lives in Claremont, NH with his wife and child. He is a regional sales rep for a sports equipment company, and still performs when his schedule allows.

More information about Nostalgic Distortion (and free MP3s) can be found at their website, www.NostalgicDistortion.com.

About Andy’s Army / JDRF One-Walk

Andy’s Army is named after the 11-year-old son of Nostalgic Distortion (ND) guitarist Tim Hazelton, who was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when he was 4 years old. The Hazelton family organized the Andy’s Army walk team to participate in JDRF’s annual One Walk (formerly known as the Walk to Cure Diabetes) to raise money for research to cure Type 1 Diabetes, and have taken part in the annual event for the past 7 years now, raising over $18,000 along the way. Donations to Andy’s Army / JDRF can still be made at http://www2.jdrf.org/site/TR/Walk/NorthernNewEnglandBranch4366?team_id=185902&pg=team&fr_id=5398